US College Student Attempts to Become 1st Woman to Scale Alpine 'Murder Wall'

Virginia native Sasha DiGiulian, 22, is trying to scale the Eiger.

ByABC News
August 13, 2015, 10:26 AM

— -- The Eiger mountain is known as “murder wall” among climbers because it is 6,000 death-defying feet of sheer, vertical limestone in the Swiss Alps.

It is also the next conquest for 22-year-old Alexandria, Virginia, native Sasha DiGiulian, who is attempting to become the first woman to scale it.

“If I achieve this, then I’ve proven to myself that something I didn’t know was possible is possible,” DiGiulian told ABC News.

The Eiger, one of the world’s most dangerous and technical climbs, is known for frequent avalanches and sliding rocks.

DiGiulian, a student at New York City’s Columbia University, has spoken out about her fears of the climb.

“I’m kind of scared, actually really scared,” DiGiulian said in a series of videos produced by Adidas Outdoor. “These other two climbers are here. Last night one of them was telling me about his friend, uh, was climbing here, and he died.”

“I was like holy s***,” she said. “I mean that could totally happen to us.”

DiGiulian’s routine as she attempts to become a record-maker is to climb during the day and camp out by a cliff at night.

The 5-foot-2 college student, who has been climbing since the age of 6, is on track to reach the summit within the next week.